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How to Create Magic Systems

MAGIC

You may not want to consider magic when writing your
fantasy stories, but it is an area of worldbuilding that makes them unique. You
needn’t explain everything about your magic if you don’t want, and keep it...
well... magic.

However, it’s important thinking deeper than ‘X
character does this, Y character does that’. I say this because if you just
give specialist magical abilities to specific characters, others can replicate their
origin story to achieve the same effect. If you define your magic as something
tangible, rather than showing it can do anything, it will be more intriguing to
readers.

ORIGIN

Where does your magic come from? What is the source?
Common origins are the following:-

·
Evolved -
An alteration or mutation has taken place giving characters powers others
cannot achieve.

·
Dues Ex Machina - Unexplainable creatures with power mere mortals
cannot have such as gods and mythological beasts.

MAGNITUDE

Deciding the size and scale of magic in your realm is
important. If everyone is magic, then magic loses its magic.

·
Rare -
Ordinary folk may know about magic, though perhaps misunderstand it due to the
scarcity of people able to harness the power.

·
Secretive -
Only a few with the requisite knowledge use magic.

·
Accessible - Everyone can use magic.

ATTITUDE

How do people in your world see magic users? Imagine
how it would feel having powers when others don’t. Alternatively, imagine
yourself if the opposite position.

·
Hate -
People don’t like magicians.

·
Distrust -
Magicians are tricksters so people cannot trust them.

·
Envy -
People crave what they don’t have.

·
Fear -
People fear what they don’t possess.

·
Respect - Fear
can breed respect.

·
Adoration -
Like all great people through history, they attract fans, and magicians may do
the same.

APPLICATION

After explaining where magic comes from, you need to
know how it’s used. Common ways to use magic are the following: -

·
Natural -
Characters are born with biological magic tendencies.

·
Train -
Characters can train to harness magic.

·
Drain -
Characters need to give something up, such as life force, or even blood, to do
magic.

·
Words -
Simply uttering words or phrases can have magical effects.

·
Potions -
Food, drink and creams can have different properties.

·
Places -
Magic only works when characters are in certain places such as castles, schools
or even other dimensions.

RESTRICTIONS

Saying magic can do anything is boring and
unrealistic. Give your realms magic rules to stick by. Obviously, magic isn’t
realistic whatsoever, but through your explanation for where it comes from, you
can give it a realistic sense. Abilities make magic cool, but what is more
interesting is what it cannot do and why.

ABILITIES

Having decided what your magic cannot do, try to bear
that in mind, while salivating over what it can do. I have featured some
buzzwords to feed your imagination. The actual power and mechanics of how it
works will be something that you, the author, decide alone. Try to make them
unique. However, that’s becoming increasingly difficult as more fictitious
works become available.

·
Flight/Telekinesis - If people can travel long distance easily then
there would be no travel or delivery industries.

·
Creation - Choose
to decimate world hunger with magical food creation, or make your magicians
evil. If you can generate water, there would be minimal disease.

·
All -
Massive problems occur if all magic is possible. You will develop a criminal
underworld if magic isn’t available to everyone. You cannot expect all magic
usage to be good, can you? Alternatively, if everyone has magic, then planets
would be unrecognisable, to the effect of a dystopia or a utopia.

EDUCATION

Characters may need to study to learn how magic works.
There are many ways you could tackle this, including the following: -